Millions swarmed Egyptian streets this week, and the television coverage was as dramatic as it had been during the 2011 Arab Spring. For most of the week, however, CNN remained preoccupied with the murder trial involving the shooting in 2012 of a Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin. At first, this appeared to be American parochialism, but it wasn't. And the two events have more in common than you think.

The essential difference between Occupy Wall Street and street protests a generation ago is that the latter were for human rights and peace, whereas the motive of the former is mainly economic. Given that history can repeat itself as farce and tragedy, here are some recollections of the high points of the American protests.